Educate me on mid-2000s VW Beetles

"winterlegacy, here 'till the end" (winterlegacy)
06/11/2018 at 18:03 • Filed to: stupid thoughts with winterlegacy

There is a Beetle convertible in this very same shade of light cream near me for about $3500. Didn’t get to look inside to see if it’s a stick.

Please tell me a good reason to either A. avoid this thing at all cost B. buy it with the nonexistant dollars I have and suffer in the -4C weather in winter because stupid decisions.

DISCUSSION (21)

BlueMazda2 - Blesses the rains down in Africa, Purveyor of BMW Individual Arctic Metallic, Merci Twingo > winterlegacy, here 'till the end
06/11/2018 at 18:07

The 997 was good, but I personally prefer the 996.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > winterlegacy, here 'till the end
06/11/2018 at 18:09

it’s a weird girl car, seriously uncool

Kinja'd!!!

lone_liberal > winterlegacy, here 'till the end
06/11/2018 at 18:09

You know, -4C isn’t all that cold...

vicali > winterlegacy, here 'till the end
06/11/2018 at 18:13

There are a ton of these around as cheap used cars, usually driven by teenagers headed to the mall. Considering they are mk4 golfs with curvy bodywork they usually run long after they are wanted.

For Sweden > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°)
06/11/2018 at 18:16

Girl cars are cool

Golfs are not cool

The New Beetle is a Golf

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > For Sweden
06/11/2018 at 18:19

So it’s the official transport vehicle of the neutral planet?

winterlegacy, here 'till the end > lone_liberal
06/11/2018 at 18:20

It gets far colder. -4C is just more of the average.

SPAMBot - Horse Doctor > winterlegacy, here 'till the end
06/11/2018 at 18:22

I like mine.

That being said, if you do get one, make sure it was properly taken care of. I’m close to 200K miles, but I am religious about maintenance. Sadly, lot’s of these were bought for teenage girls as a first car and those cars’ reliability reflected that.

I think 2006 was the sweet spot.

lone_liberal > winterlegacy, here 'till the end
06/11/2018 at 18:25

I wouldn’t worry about the cold so much, after all it’s not an air-cooled Beetle. I’d worry about the general lack of reliability of late model VWs.

Future Heap Owner > winterlegacy, here 'till the end
06/11/2018 at 18:25

I just listened to an episode of the Humble Mechanic podcast (who is a former VW dealer tech) where he strongly recommended a listener to not buy exactly this car for the listener’s step daughter for $800 (listener had talked seller down from $3000 because it needed timing belt, water pump, and maybe some other stuff done).

The automatic transmissions have a tendency to develop hard shifting problems between the low gears. There was a relatively simple fix that worked 9/10 times, but the other time you needed a new transmission.

The glass in the soft top has a tendency to start falling out. The only fix is to get a new soft top for a couple grand.

The window regulators have a tendency to fail, which he said was another couple grand to fix.

He summed it up by basically saying that the new Beetles were crap until the body restyling that made them look more like the old beetles. Ended with “even though it’s only $800 you could easily find yourself putting three or four grand in this car on top of the couple grand you’re already planning to do, and at that point you’re probably better off on spending more for a newer, safer car with a better reputation for reliability.”

If I were you I’d stay away.

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > winterlegacy, here 'till the end
06/11/2018 at 18:26

Like many European cars, they get expensive to keep as they age. Electrical and trim bits like to break on these.

They’re not insanely expensive though.

And I would say the it’s better to get the manual instead of the automatic.

And it’s better to get either the TDI or the non-turbo gas engine instead of the turbo gas engine.

for Michigan > winterlegacy, here 'till the end
06/11/2018 at 18:27

It’s not a stick.

gmctavish needs more space > winterlegacy, here 'till the end
06/11/2018 at 18:28

You mean peetles

jkm7680 > winterlegacy, here 'till the end
06/11/2018 at 18:35

Avoid at all costs because they’re made by Volkswagen.

Spaceball-Two > jkm7680
06/11/2018 at 18:39

We’re so bitter.

vicali > winterlegacy, here 'till the end
06/11/2018 at 18:44

They have a trunk,which makes them terrible as far as beetles go.

Unless you have a rocket beetle;

Kinja'd!!!

winterlegacy, here 'till the end > gmctavish needs more space
06/11/2018 at 18:47

It’s a semi-serious post so I’m not flipping Ps or Bs in this one

BrianGriffin thinks “reliable” is just a state of mind > winterlegacy, here 'till the end
06/11/2018 at 19:19

I’m kinda looking around at the same price point as you. For $3500ish plus thousands for repairs, I’d recommend a E46 or NA Miata.

cmill189 - sans Volvo > for Michigan
06/11/2018 at 19:29

Ya never know. My mom’s best friend had a baby blue Beetle convertible with a stick. She purposely bought it that way. Now she drives a manual bright orange Crosstrek.

for Michigan > cmill189 - sans Volvo
06/11/2018 at 21:24

While possible , it is highly improbable.

TrickJos > winterlegacy, here 'till the end
06/11/2018 at 21:57

My wife has a 2004 in the same color. It obviously lived a hard life before she got it. She purchased it only a few months before we met. I would have asked her nicely to find another had I been there. But, long story short, it has been a good car once I got it in shape.

It’s only the 2.0L with an auto. Lots of fun to cruise in on a nice sunny day though.

I wouldn’t worry about driving it in cold temperatures too much. The top seems to be well insulated. Hasn’t been a problem for us and it is our primary winter car.

Let me know if you have any questions. I’ve done a lot of work on it. It is definitely a better purchase if you are a diy’er.

Kinja'd!!!